How Not to Play Chess
by oshnsoa shnedashn kiunepgli
Summary: AU, set to the tune of the kittyclaw's How to begin a journey. [part of the athame chronicles] Yumi is new at kadic, and frustrated with her powers, decides to try to make a friend instead. Oneshot. Part 1 of an ongoing series. [Read How to Reveal Yourself next]


_So chess huh? Lots of people play this game. Even today, with all these computer games and things. _

Yumi sat alone in a corner of the library. The sun was out, and even in the south of france a sunny day could get quite intense. Yumi ran her hands over the long sleeves of her turtle neck. It was hot and less than stylish this time of year, but it was the price she paid. There were days she didn't think it was worth it.

But that was what chess was for.

The game was thousands of years old, and she had her own special set given to her by her father. It was older than she was which actually meant something.

A hundred years is a long time, always making it harder to relate to people.

She had to take a history class here, a goodly portion of what they were supposed to learn she had actually lived.

Learning about people was difficult; none of them seemed even a little bit similar.

That was why she had the chess board in front of her.

This was something that never changed. Even if she had never really gotten the hang of it.

A furtive glance around the room, no one else was really here. The librarian was shuffling through books on the other side of the stacks.

The board was set up, the pieces staring each other down. She made the queens pawn move forwards without touching it.

_So far so good. _

She moved six more pieces this way, each one a little harder than the last.

She looked out the window, all those kids out there clustered together in their little packs. They called them cliques now.

She moved two more pieces. Still getting harder. All the practice in the world wouldn't ever make it easier, or so it seemed to her.

Someone laughed outside. She had to focus hard to move a rook. She had to capture the pawn with her hand, setting it aside.

Maybe she should go outside for a few minutes. Her hair is long enough to keep the sun out of her face, she could at least talk to a few people, learn their names. Act like a kid. It'd been a while since she'd done that.

She tried to move another piece, the knight trembled on the board, but it wouldn't move. With a huff she gave up.

It was the work of a few moments to put it all away. She hefted her bag back over her shoulder, full of books and a chess set, not nearly as heavy as it probably should have been.

The sun hurt her eyes, but so far it wasn't that bad. She felt like everyone was watching her, like she stuck out like a sore thumb. All these kids in their loose clothes, running around in t-shirts and tank tops. In one of the corners of the courtyard was a boy, sitting off by himself. Something about him caught her eye.

"What's up?" she asked, sliding up next to him, leaning against the wall, partially out of the glare of the sun. He looked up at her. Immediately she was caught by his strong features; dark brown hair, a strong if slight build and deep eyes.

"Hello to you too." He said, clearly trying to brush her off. Yumi frowned. How was she supposed to get used to humans if they were so rude?

"Just trying to make a friend." She stuck out her hand, expecting him to at least take it. Her sleeve pulled up more than she thought it would, exposing her hand and wrist fully to the sunlight. Unlike younger vampires she didn't have to worry about catching fire, but after only a few seconds she was going to have a nasty sunburn.

_This had better end up being worth while_

The boy looked at her strangely for a moment before taking her hand. His grip was incredibly strong. Something about him told her he wasn't like all the other people here in the courtyard.

Maybe a little too hastily she withdrew her hand, acutely aware of first the sunlight, then his strange look at her. She smiled at him, flashing white teeth.

"I'm Ulrich, I'm new here."

She nodded. "Yumi, I'm new too. Don't know if I really want to be here though."

"Me too, I was sent here by my dad. I'm not good enough apparently."

She looked at him; head tilted to one side, not sure where to go from there. He must have noticed her discomfort because he put his hand behind his head, looking sheepish.

"I guess that's a bit much huh? Sorry. I'm just nervous."

"It's okay, I'm nervous too. I don't know what to do here."

"It was nice meeting you?" he seemed hopeful suddenly. Like he was looking for her approval.

She grinned at him for a moment, rubbing her wrist absentmindedly. "yeah! I'm glad to finally know someone here."

A bell rang, drawing everyone off to their classes. She waved halfhearted at him as he left to his class. Her skin was already red, but it was worth it to meet someone that was at least friendly. She'd get some aloe later, but for right now, she had a friend, one that was actually human. It felt good. Maybe this whole being normal thing would work out for the best.


End file.
